Lewis rallies Webb past Granville Central

Tobiah Lewis had quite the second half for J.F. Webb High School in the Warriors’ season-opener on Friday night.

The 235-pound running back showed off his speed on a pair of long touchdown runs to help Webb overcome a 14-point halftime deficit in a 29-14 home victory over Granville Central. The senior finished with 247 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries in the non-conference game.

A little brotherly encouragement between the coaching staff helped Lewis collect touchdown runs of 56 and 73 yards as part of a 22-point third quarter for the Warriors.

“In the first half we were very vanilla,” said first-year Webb head coach Tony Midgette. “I had to get in the ear of my brother (Antonio, the offensive coordinator) a little bit and tell him to open it up.”

The Warriors were able to spring Lewis right up the middle, twice, behind an offensive line that just kept pounding away on the Panthers, even in the first half when yards were hard to gain.

The physical toll showed in the second half as Granville Central, which has some athletes playing on both sides of the ball, wore down offensively as well. Sophomore quarterback Jay Parker hit a pair of long touchdown passes in the first half, but the Panthers would total less than 30 yards from scrimmage after halftime.

“We wanted to take away some of the short stuff (in the second half),” said Midgette, victorious in his first game as head coach. “They scored on those two big plays but they were moving the ball by throwing it short.”

Granville Central also turned the ball over twice in the second half, including Antonio Bowden’s touchdown return of a tipped pass. William Gillespie’s subsequent extra point gave Webb the lead for good at 15-14.